Written Question

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Suffolk

Wednesday 22nd May 2024

Asked by: Thérèse Coffey (Conservative - Suffolk Coastal)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of NHS provision for the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in Suffolk.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

It is the responsibility of integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to assessment and treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance. The NICE guideline on ADHD does not recommend a maximum waiting time from referral for an assessment of ADHD to the point of assessment or diagnosis.

Whilst the Department has not made a specific assessment, Suffolk and North East Essex ICB advises that it has undertaken a review of children’s ADHD and autism services. As a result of the review, and current demand, the ICB has agreed additional funding of £3.3 million to support the services to not only reduce the time children are waiting for assessment but also increase the service provision to meet future demand. The ICB is also looking at potential new models of delivery and at the current pathways to see how it can utilise them more efficiently to ensure a smoother process for families.

In respect of adult ADHD and autism services, the ICB has worked closely with its local National Health Service provider, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, to closely monitor and respond to increases in demand. In March 2024, the ICB agreed to invest £300,000 to support those patients on the waiting list with additional advice and support.

In respect of the adequacy of ADHD service provision nationally, in December 2023, NHS England initiated a rapid piece of work to consider ADHD service provision within the NHS. The initial phase of work identified challenges, including with current service models and the ability to keep pace with demand. Following this initial review, NHS England is establishing a new ADHD taskforce alongside the government, to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The new taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the NHS, education and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.

Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England has announced that it will continue to work with stakeholders to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.

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Written Question

Buses: Carbon Emissions

Wednesday 22nd May 2024

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many zero-emission buses had been ordered through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (a) 1 and (b) 2 schemes as of 14 May 2024; and how many zero-emission buses are expected to be ordered through both schemes by the end of this Parliament.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

More than 5,200 buses have been funded across the UK since February 2020, with UK bus manufacturers supporting many of these. UK manufacturers have grown substantially in recent years as a result of their success in securing orders supported by £460 million of dedicated zero emission bus funding.

A breakdown of how much grant funding has been spent on UK-made ZEBs is unavailable. Of the approximately 1,300 ZEBs funded through the ZEBRA 1 programme, over 800 of these buses will be manufactured by UK bus manufacturers Wrightbus and Alexander Dennis. We look forward to UK manufacturers securing more orders through the recently announced ZEBRA 2 funding.

The following tables present information on the number of ZEBs funded and ordered through the ZEBRA programmes and the projects’ bus manufacturer by local transport authority. ZEBs produced and sold in the UK are supported by a global supply chain, therefore the below table outlines bus manufacturer’s location rather than country of origin. The numbers in this table are not official statistics: they are based on the latest information available and are therefore indicative and subject to change.

ZEBRA 1
Local Transport Authority	Number of buses funded	Number of buses ordered	Bus manufacturer & Location
Blackpool Council	90	0	Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority	30	30	Volvo (Sweden)
City of York Council	53	53	Wrightbus (UK)
Greater Manchester Combined Authority	170	170	Volvo (Sweden)
Hertfordshire County Council	27	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Kent County Council	33	33	5 – Volvo (Sweden)   28 – Irizar (Spain)
Leicester City Council	116	116	110 – Wrightbus (UK)    6 – Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)
Norfolk County Council	70	70	Wrightbus (UK)
North Yorkshire County Council	39	39	20 – EvoBus/Mercedes (Germany) 19 – Alexander Dennis Ltd  (UK)
Nottingham City Council	62	48	48 - Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)   Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Oxfordshire County Council	159	159	104 - Wrightbus (UK) 55 – Alexander Dennis Ltd (UK)
Portsmouth City Council & Hampshire County Council	62	62	Wrightbus (UK)
South Yorkshire Combined Authority	27	27	4 – Alexander Dennis Ltd (UK)    23 – Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)
Warrington Borough Council	105	105	Volvo (Sweden)
West Midlands Combined Authority	124	0	Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority	146	146	131 – Wrightbus (UK) 15 – Mercedes (Germany)
	1,308	1,053

ZEBRA 2
Local Transport Authority	Number of buses funded	Number of buses ordered	Bus manufacturer & Location
Brighton and Hove City Council	16	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Cornwall Council	8	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Derbyshire County Council	57	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Devon County Council	41	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Essex County Council	55	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Gloucestershire County Council	58	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire Council	40	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Isle of Wight Council	22	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Leicestershire County Council	46	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority	58	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
North Somerset Council	24	24	Bus manufacturer TBC
Nottinghamshire County Council	23	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Plymouth City Council	50	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Reading Borough Council	24	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Somerset Council	25	25	Bus manufacturer TBC
Staffordshire County Council	17	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Surrey County Council	19	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Tees Valley Combined Authority	62	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Torbay Council	49	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Transport North East	43	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Warwickshire County Council	27	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West Northamptonshire Council	51	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West of England Mayoral Combined Authority	74	74	Bus manufacturer TBC
West Sussex County Council	43	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Wiltshire Council	23	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.

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Written Question

Buses: Carbon Emissions

Wednesday 22nd May 2024

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage local authorities to buy new zero-emission buses through the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area schemes.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

More than 5,200 buses have been funded across the UK since February 2020, with UK bus manufacturers supporting many of these. UK manufacturers have grown substantially in recent years as a result of their success in securing orders supported by £460 million of dedicated zero emission bus funding.

A breakdown of how much grant funding has been spent on UK-made ZEBs is unavailable. Of the approximately 1,300 ZEBs funded through the ZEBRA 1 programme, over 800 of these buses will be manufactured by UK bus manufacturers Wrightbus and Alexander Dennis. We look forward to UK manufacturers securing more orders through the recently announced ZEBRA 2 funding.

The following tables present information on the number of ZEBs funded and ordered through the ZEBRA programmes and the projects’ bus manufacturer by local transport authority. ZEBs produced and sold in the UK are supported by a global supply chain, therefore the below table outlines bus manufacturer’s location rather than country of origin. The numbers in this table are not official statistics: they are based on the latest information available and are therefore indicative and subject to change.

ZEBRA 1
Local Transport Authority	Number of buses funded	Number of buses ordered	Bus manufacturer & Location
Blackpool Council	90	0	Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority	30	30	Volvo (Sweden)
City of York Council	53	53	Wrightbus (UK)
Greater Manchester Combined Authority	170	170	Volvo (Sweden)
Hertfordshire County Council	27	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Kent County Council	33	33	5 – Volvo (Sweden)   28 – Irizar (Spain)
Leicester City Council	116	116	110 – Wrightbus (UK)    6 – Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)
Norfolk County Council	70	70	Wrightbus (UK)
North Yorkshire County Council	39	39	20 – EvoBus/Mercedes (Germany) 19 – Alexander Dennis Ltd  (UK)
Nottingham City Council	62	48	48 - Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)   Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Oxfordshire County Council	159	159	104 - Wrightbus (UK) 55 – Alexander Dennis Ltd (UK)
Portsmouth City Council & Hampshire County Council	62	62	Wrightbus (UK)
South Yorkshire Combined Authority	27	27	4 – Alexander Dennis Ltd (UK)    23 – Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)
Warrington Borough Council	105	105	Volvo (Sweden)
West Midlands Combined Authority	124	0	Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority	146	146	131 – Wrightbus (UK) 15 – Mercedes (Germany)
	1,308	1,053

ZEBRA 2
Local Transport Authority	Number of buses funded	Number of buses ordered	Bus manufacturer & Location
Brighton and Hove City Council	16	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Cornwall Council	8	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Derbyshire County Council	57	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Devon County Council	41	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Essex County Council	55	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Gloucestershire County Council	58	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire Council	40	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Isle of Wight Council	22	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Leicestershire County Council	46	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority	58	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
North Somerset Council	24	24	Bus manufacturer TBC
Nottinghamshire County Council	23	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Plymouth City Council	50	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Reading Borough Council	24	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Somerset Council	25	25	Bus manufacturer TBC
Staffordshire County Council	17	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Surrey County Council	19	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Tees Valley Combined Authority	62	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Torbay Council	49	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Transport North East	43	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Warwickshire County Council	27	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West Northamptonshire Council	51	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West of England Mayoral Combined Authority	74	74	Bus manufacturer TBC
West Sussex County Council	43	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Wiltshire Council	23	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.

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Written Question

Buses: Carbon Emissions

Wednesday 22nd May 2024

Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of the buses funded through Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (a) 1 and (b) 2 schemes are (i) UK and (ii) non-UK-made, broken down by country of origin; and how much Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas funding has been spent on UK-made zero-emission buses as of 14 May 2024.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

More than 5,200 buses have been funded across the UK since February 2020, with UK bus manufacturers supporting many of these. UK manufacturers have grown substantially in recent years as a result of their success in securing orders supported by £460 million of dedicated zero emission bus funding.

A breakdown of how much grant funding has been spent on UK-made ZEBs is unavailable. Of the approximately 1,300 ZEBs funded through the ZEBRA 1 programme, over 800 of these buses will be manufactured by UK bus manufacturers Wrightbus and Alexander Dennis. We look forward to UK manufacturers securing more orders through the recently announced ZEBRA 2 funding.

The following tables present information on the number of ZEBs funded and ordered through the ZEBRA programmes and the projects’ bus manufacturer by local transport authority. ZEBs produced and sold in the UK are supported by a global supply chain, therefore the below table outlines bus manufacturer’s location rather than country of origin. The numbers in this table are not official statistics: they are based on the latest information available and are therefore indicative and subject to change.

ZEBRA 1
Local Transport Authority	Number of buses funded	Number of buses ordered	Bus manufacturer & Location
Blackpool Council	90	0	Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority	30	30	Volvo (Sweden)
City of York Council	53	53	Wrightbus (UK)
Greater Manchester Combined Authority	170	170	Volvo (Sweden)
Hertfordshire County Council	27	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Kent County Council	33	33	5 – Volvo (Sweden)   28 – Irizar (Spain)
Leicester City Council	116	116	110 – Wrightbus (UK)    6 – Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)
Norfolk County Council	70	70	Wrightbus (UK)
North Yorkshire County Council	39	39	20 – EvoBus/Mercedes (Germany) 19 – Alexander Dennis Ltd  (UK)
Nottingham City Council	62	48	48 - Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)   Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Oxfordshire County Council	159	159	104 - Wrightbus (UK) 55 – Alexander Dennis Ltd (UK)
Portsmouth City Council & Hampshire County Council	62	62	Wrightbus (UK)
South Yorkshire Combined Authority	27	27	4 – Alexander Dennis Ltd (UK)    23 – Pelican/Yutong (UK/China)
Warrington Borough Council	105	105	Volvo (Sweden)
West Midlands Combined Authority	124	0	Bus manufacturer subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority	146	146	131 – Wrightbus (UK) 15 – Mercedes (Germany)
	1,308	1,053

ZEBRA 2
Local Transport Authority	Number of buses funded	Number of buses ordered	Bus manufacturer & Location
Brighton and Hove City Council	16	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Cornwall Council	8	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Derbyshire County Council	57	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Devon County Council	41	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Essex County Council	55	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Gloucestershire County Council	58	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Hull City and East Riding of Yorkshire Council	40	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Isle of Wight Council	22	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Leicestershire County Council	46	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Liverpool City Region Combined Authority	58	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
North Somerset Council	24	24	Bus manufacturer TBC
Nottinghamshire County Council	23	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Plymouth City Council	50	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Reading Borough Council	24	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Somerset Council	25	25	Bus manufacturer TBC
Staffordshire County Council	17	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Surrey County Council	19	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Tees Valley Combined Authority	62	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Torbay Council	49	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Transport North East	43	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Warwickshire County Council	27	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West Northamptonshire Council	51	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
West of England Mayoral Combined Authority	74	74	Bus manufacturer TBC
West Sussex County Council	43	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.
Wiltshire Council	23	0	Bus manufacturer for remaining buses subject to outcome of procurement process by local transport authority or bus operator.

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Written Question

Veterans: Social Rented Housing

Wednesday 22nd May 2024

Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 1 May 2024 to Question 22836 on Veterans: Social Rented Housing, if he will list the locations awarded grants by the Veteran Capital Housing Fund.

Answered by Johnny Mercer - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Minister for Veterans' Affairs)

The Government launched the £20 million Veterans Capital Housing Fund to ensure the sustainable supply of veteran housing through the refurbishment of affordable rental accommodation and the delivery of new build projects for veterans.

The Fund is a three-year programme with multiple awards planned over that period. Grants supported to date are located in North East England; South East England; and Wales. More details on these grants can be found at https://covenantfund.org.uk/veterans-capital-housing-fund-refurbishment.

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Written Question

Mineworkers' Pension Scheme

Tuesday 21st May 2024

Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 14 May 2024 to Question 25469 on Mineworkers' Pension Scheme, how many recipients there are in each region of the UK.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The number of scheme members by region, as at July 2023, is as follows:

Name of Region	Number of members
Channel Islands	8
East Midlands	29641
East of England	490
Isle of Man	4
London	194
North East	15917
North West	4901
Scotland	8269
South East	1791
South West	908
Wales	13838
West Midlands	9461
Yorkshire and The Humber	30510

A breakdown by region of former miners and dependants is not available.

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Written Question

Probation Service: Vacancies

Tuesday 21st May 2024

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies there are in the probation service by region.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The workforce position, at 31 March 2024, was 20,758 FTE Staff in Post working in Probation Service grades (including those working in Approved Premises). This is an increase of 728 FTE (3.6%) since 31 March 2023.

Recruitment and retention remain a priority across the Probation Service and we have injected extra funding of more than £155 million a year since 2021 to deliver more robust supervision, recruit more staff and reduce caseloads to keep the public safer.

We have recruited 4,582 trainee Probation Officers between 2020/21 and 2023/24. Many of these trainees have already qualified and taken up Probation Officer posts and we expect the remainder of these intakes to qualify by the end of 2025 and begin to take on Probation Officer caseloads. We will continue to run centralised recruitment campaigns in priority regions to help bolster the number of applications.

Table One: Vacancies across Probation Service Regions, March 2024, all Probation Service grades.

Probation Service Region	Vacancies (FTE)
PS East Midlands	45
PS East of England	204
PS Greater Manchester	18
PS Kent, Surrey & Sussex	100
PS London	446
PS North East	50
PS North West	89
PS South Central	103
PS South West	71
PS Wales	0
PS West Midlands	67
PS Yorkshire & the Humber	109
PS Approved Premises	0

Notes

1. Data shows average resource across the month, adjusted for joiners and leavers within the month. Data shown as of March 2024, aligning with the most recent HMPPS Workforce Quarterly publication. More recent data cannot be provided due to potentially pre-empting future statistical publications.
2. Vacancies have been calculated as Target Staffing (Full Time Equivalent - FTE) minus Staff in Post (FTE).
3. Where the number of Staff in Post (FTE) in a region exceeds Target Staffing (FTE), the number of vacancies has been shown as 0 FTE. Summing the figures in the table will not give the overall number of vacancies across the Probation Service due to the surpluses in some regions that haven’t been shown in the table.
4. Vacancies have been netted off between grades and business units. As a result, the overall vacancy figures presented mask the presence of vacancies at both grade and business unit level.
5. Data have been taken from the Workforce Planning Tool and are subject to inaccuracy as a result of the manual nature with which returns are completed. This approach differs from the published statistics, which uses data from the Single Operating Platform (our departmental HR system).
6. Staff in Post (FTE) has not been adjusted for long-term absences (e.g., Trainee Probation Officer training time). In addition, we have not factored in loans / temporary cover / agency and sessional. The actual resourced position will therefore differ as a result of these.
7. Trainee Probation Officers are included in the data. Trainees spend a proportion of their time training and the remainder of their time carrying out work at a Band 3 Probation Services Officer level. Both training time and time spent delivering caseload are included in the Staff in Post (FTE) calculations, which means that number of vacancies is lower than the actual gap between Target Staffing and frontline delivery.

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Written Question

Teachers: Pay

Tuesday 21st May 2024

Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of the levelling up premium payments for school teachers on recruitment of teachers in shortage subjects.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing secondary school teachers in the first five years of their career who work in eligible schools have been able to claim Levelling Up Premium (LUP) payments of up to £3,000 after tax since September 2022. For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is doubling the LUP payments to eligible school teachers to up to £6,000 per year after tax and extending the offer to key science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and technical subject teachers in all further education colleges for the first time.

A new school teacher receiving a £6,000 LUP will have an income equivalent of at least a £38,570 starting salary next year, even before accounting for the next pay award.

The number of teachers that have received LUP payments by region are below:

	Sum of claims by academic year
Region	2022/23	2023/2024
East of England	337	371
East Midlands	421	401
London	1112	1170
North East	238	251
North West	762	790
South East	304	314
South West	241	246
West Midlands	603	594
Yorkshire and The Humber	597	603
Total	4615	4740

The number of teachers that have received LUP payments by subject are below:

	Sum of claims by academic year
Subject	2022/23	2023/24
Mathematics	2518	2609
Physics	459	456
Chemistry	1044	1101
Computing	595	574
Total	4615	4740

The LUP is primarily designed to incentivise the retention of specialist teachers in the disadvantaged schools it targets, but it may also support recruitment by encouraging teachers to take up posts in these schools.

It is too early to fully evaluate the impact of the LUP, but it is possible to draw on evidence from the predecessor pilots which informed it. For example, a University College London (UCL) evaluation of the Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments pilot found that teachers who received these £2,000 after tax payments were 23% less likely to leave teaching. Furthermore, an evaluation of Early Career Payments assessed they reduced the likelihood of teachers leaving by 37% for the £5,000 payments, and 58% for the £7,500 payments.

Mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing trainees starting school initial teacher teaching (ITT) in the 2024/25 academic year can already benefit from tax free bursaries worth £28,000 and scholarships worth £30,000. These ITT incentives are a national offer and are not differentiated sub-nationally. This is because teachers often teach in a different school or area to that they trained in. The Levelling Up Premium is paid to school teachers once they are qualified and is therefore targeted sub-nationally to incentivise them to work in the schools most in need.

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Written Question

Teachers: Pay

Tuesday 21st May 2024

Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of teachers who have received levelling up premium payments for school teachers since May 2022 by (a) region and (b) subject.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing secondary school teachers in the first five years of their career who work in eligible schools have been able to claim Levelling Up Premium (LUP) payments of up to £3,000 after tax since September 2022. For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is doubling the LUP payments to eligible school teachers to up to £6,000 per year after tax and extending the offer to key science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and technical subject teachers in all further education colleges for the first time.

A new school teacher receiving a £6,000 LUP will have an income equivalent of at least a £38,570 starting salary next year, even before accounting for the next pay award.

The number of teachers that have received LUP payments by region are below:

	Sum of claims by academic year
Region	2022/23	2023/2024
East of England	337	371
East Midlands	421	401
London	1112	1170
North East	238	251
North West	762	790
South East	304	314
South West	241	246
West Midlands	603	594
Yorkshire and The Humber	597	603
Total	4615	4740

The number of teachers that have received LUP payments by subject are below:

	Sum of claims by academic year
Subject	2022/23	2023/24
Mathematics	2518	2609
Physics	459	456
Chemistry	1044	1101
Computing	595	574
Total	4615	4740

The LUP is primarily designed to incentivise the retention of specialist teachers in the disadvantaged schools it targets, but it may also support recruitment by encouraging teachers to take up posts in these schools.

It is too early to fully evaluate the impact of the LUP, but it is possible to draw on evidence from the predecessor pilots which informed it. For example, a University College London (UCL) evaluation of the Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments pilot found that teachers who received these £2,000 after tax payments were 23% less likely to leave teaching. Furthermore, an evaluation of Early Career Payments assessed they reduced the likelihood of teachers leaving by 37% for the £5,000 payments, and 58% for the £7,500 payments.

Mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing trainees starting school initial teacher teaching (ITT) in the 2024/25 academic year can already benefit from tax free bursaries worth £28,000 and scholarships worth £30,000. These ITT incentives are a national offer and are not differentiated sub-nationally. This is because teachers often teach in a different school or area to that they trained in. The Levelling Up Premium is paid to school teachers once they are qualified and is therefore targeted sub-nationally to incentivise them to work in the schools most in need.

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Written Question

Teachers: Pay

Tuesday 21st May 2024

Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending levelling up premium payments to teachers in training with initial teacher training providers in disadvantaged communities.

Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)

Mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing secondary school teachers in the first five years of their career who work in eligible schools have been able to claim Levelling Up Premium (LUP) payments of up to £3,000 after tax since September 2022. For the 2024/25 and 2025/26 academic years, the department is doubling the LUP payments to eligible school teachers to up to £6,000 per year after tax and extending the offer to key science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and technical subject teachers in all further education colleges for the first time.

A new school teacher receiving a £6,000 LUP will have an income equivalent of at least a £38,570 starting salary next year, even before accounting for the next pay award.

The number of teachers that have received LUP payments by region are below:

	Sum of claims by academic year
Region	2022/23	2023/2024
East of England	337	371
East Midlands	421	401
London	1112	1170
North East	238	251
North West	762	790
South East	304	314
South West	241	246
West Midlands	603	594
Yorkshire and The Humber	597	603
Total	4615	4740

The number of teachers that have received LUP payments by subject are below:

	Sum of claims by academic year
Subject	2022/23	2023/24
Mathematics	2518	2609
Physics	459	456
Chemistry	1044	1101
Computing	595	574
Total	4615	4740

The LUP is primarily designed to incentivise the retention of specialist teachers in the disadvantaged schools it targets, but it may also support recruitment by encouraging teachers to take up posts in these schools.

It is too early to fully evaluate the impact of the LUP, but it is possible to draw on evidence from the predecessor pilots which informed it. For example, a University College London (UCL) evaluation of the Mathematics and Physics Teacher Retention Payments pilot found that teachers who received these £2,000 after tax payments were 23% less likely to leave teaching. Furthermore, an evaluation of Early Career Payments assessed they reduced the likelihood of teachers leaving by 37% for the £5,000 payments, and 58% for the £7,500 payments.

Mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing trainees starting school initial teacher teaching (ITT) in the 2024/25 academic year can already benefit from tax free bursaries worth £28,000 and scholarships worth £30,000. These ITT incentives are a national offer and are not differentiated sub-nationally. This is because teachers often teach in a different school or area to that they trained in. The Levelling Up Premium is paid to school teachers once they are qualified and is therefore targeted sub-nationally to incentivise them to work in the schools most in need.

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